Spring bear hunt reinstated via five-year pilot project

The spring bear hunt is opening to those living outside of Ontario. 

Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry Bill Mauro announced non-resident hunters will be eligible for bear seals as the province unveiled a five-year pilot project that will reinstate the hunt on Friday.

Resident and non-resident hunters will be eligible to purchase $50 seals in all 88 Wildlife Management Units that have a fall hunt between this spring and 2020. Hunters will be required to hire an outfitter unless they either own property in the province or immediate family members qualify as Ontario residents. 

The Progressive Conservative Party cancelled the hunt in 1999, claiming bear cubs were being orphaned when their mothers were shot. Public sentiment across the province was split but outfitters were outraged and by the time Mauro reinstated the resident hunt in October, 84 municipal councils in Northern Ontario had passed resolutions supporting the hunt's return.

“The inclusion of the non-resident hunter is the piece that’s most likely to have an impact on how many bears are harvested,” Mauro said.

“Under the previous proposal, Ontario residents don’t hunt bear that frequently so in terms of trying to address the health and safety issue we feel the bears present to northern municipalities, we understood the Ontario hunt-only wasn’t likely to impact it. We believe the inclusion of the non-resident hunters will impact it.”

Mauro is confident the hunt will not impact the sustainability of the bear population, adding the MNR may hand out more than one seal per person in some jurisdictions where bear numbers are high.

When the hunt was cancelled, its tourism value was pegged at $40 million. The Nature and Outdoor Tourism Organization now estimates the hunt will create as much as $100 million.

Although Mauro is optimistic the spring bear hunt can return to its former prominence in Ontario, he knows the province has some catching up to do after a 15-year hiatus.

“The question will be in the first year, will we still see the same numbers as we did in 1999?” Mauro said.

“This is not new in Canada.  We always had it. Most jurisdictions still have it. Many of the people who used to do this in Ontario have gone to other provinces. We’ll see if they’ll be back this year. We don’t know that yet but I would expect over the course of the five-year pilot  we will certainly see an increase in those numbers.”